★ Presidential Survey
Start voting
Domestic Policy · Live

Should it be easier to fire federal civil-service employees?

117 votes 11 days ago Cast your vote to see the split
Live right now
Should states be allowed to bar transgender athletes from female sports categories?TrendingShould the federal government attach work and eligibility conditions to SNAP funding for states?TrendingShould the Voting Rights Act require congressional maps to preserve majority-Black districts?TrendingIs the federal government spending tax dollars wisely?BriefShould the U.S. Do More to Secure Its Border?BriefCustoms And Border ProtectionTermBorder SecurityTerm
The facts

President Trump signed an executive order on June 3, 2026, easing removal procedures for roughly 8,000 federal employees in senior career positions.

The federal civilian workforce totals about 2.3 million employees, with most protected by Civil Service Reform Act procedures enacted in 1978.

Supporters of looser firing rules argue current protections make it difficult to remove poor performers; a 2015 GAO report found agencies took an average of six months to a year to fire a tenured employee.

Critics argue weakening protections risks politicizing the career civil service, which has operated on merit-based principles since the Pendleton Act of 1883.

Federal employee unions and several Democratic state attorneys general have signaled legal challenges, arguing the order conflicts with statutory protections set by Congress.

Understand the issue
Civics quick read
Glossary
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
A 1978 law that sets the rules for hiring, managing and firing most federal workers, and gives them a process
Glossary
Schedule F / Career Civil Service
Career civil servants are government workers hired for their skills, not their politics, who keep their jobs w
Civics
How hard is it to fire a federal civil servant?
A look at the rules, history and trade-offs behind removing federal employees from their jobs.
Open the full guide
Cast your vote
Should it be easier to fire federal civil-service employees?
Live
Live results — — voters
Yes — presidents should have broad authority to remove federal workers0%
Yes — but only for documented performance or misconduct issues0%
No — but streamline existing removal procedures for clear-cut cases0%
No — keep current civil-service protections in place0%
See live results from live voters
Cast your vote to unlock America’s reaction
Anonymous · one vote per person
You vs America
You matched the majority.
Your vote lines up with the current national reaction: most voters agree with you.
Your vote
—
VS
America
——
How states are voting
Not enough votes yet to show state-level results — check back as more people vote.
Compare with people like you?
Optional: pick how you describe yourself politically to unlock sharper anonymous comparisons.
Full results — — votes
Your vote lines up with the current national reaction: most voters agree with you.
Yes — presidents should have broad authority to remove federal workers0%
Yes — but only for documented performance or misconduct issues0%
No — but streamline existing removal procedures for clear-cut cases0%
No — keep current civil-service protections in place0%